Valve guide remover



Jan. 12, 1943.v H. A. BERKMAN yVALVE GUIDE` REMovER Filed May 22, 1941.fffm

Patented Jan. 12, 1943 'rss-r "ALVE GUIDE REMOVER Herbert A. Berkman,Chicago, Ill., assignor to Zim Manufacturing Company, a corporation of.Illinois Application `May 22, 1941, Serial No. 3945593 (Cl. .Z9-86.3)

2 Claims.

In a common-type of `automobile engine the intake and exhaust valves forthe cylinders seat downwardly upon-portions ofthe engine block lyingbeside the cylinders, and have valve stems extending down through longguides or bushings positioned at a substantial distance below the.valves when the latter are closed; the bushings having downwardextensions arranged within the coil springs by means of which the valvesare closed. In order to remove the vvalves it is necessary to remove thebushings along with the valves; this being done by lifting the entirevalve unit, including the bushing and the valve spring, out of theengine block. When such a valve unit is installed, it is secured,against being so lifted,

vby means of a key in the form of a flat washer having a section removedat one side to permit the washer to kbe slipped laterally upon a necklportion of reduced diameter on the bushing. This key is normally seatedwithin a recess in the lower face of that portion of the cylinder blockthrough which the valve extends, and cannot be removed without firstforcing the bushing down. In service, thesebushings are subjected toysuch severe conditions that they become frozen to the surrounding metalof the cylinder blocks, so that considerable force is needed to movethem. There are several ways in which the bushings Vcan be driven downfar enough topermit the 'keys to be withdrawn, but even then it is verydifficult to drive the bushingsup; this being due to the restrictedcharacter ci the space in which a lifting tool must operate,particularly in V-typey engines.

The object of the present invention is toproduce a simple and novel toolforforcing the valve guides or bushings upwardly land outwardly fromtheir working positions, after the removal of the keys that hold themdown, to freefthem and the valves with which they are associated fromthe cylinder block.

The type of engine to whichmy improved tool is especially adapted is oneof the `V-type in which the valves are arranged along opposite t sidesof a valley in the cylinder block. In accordance with my invention, thebody of the tool comprises two sturdy arms hinged togetherat one end andlong enough toextend from a point in the cylinder block adjacent to thelower end of one of the valve stems out through the valley along the Thefreeends .of the larmsare provided `with jaws to embrace the valvespring, and one of the jaws is provided with what may be termed'anauxiliary jaw, overlying the same and adapted to be slipped between thecoils of the spring underneath the lower end of the guide or bushing. Along operating lever is hinged at one end to the upper of two arms, nearthe jaw end of Ythe latter, and is provided with a cam to exert apowerful spreading force on the arms when the lever is pulled backwardtoward the hinge end of the arms. By shaping the parts so that the levermay stand aboutA at right angles to the arms when the jaws engage witheach other, it is vpossible to insert the tool in the valley of thecylinder block so as to rest at one end in the bottom of the valley,while the lever extends out through thetop of the valley close to thevalve which is to be removed; .thereby providing a firm support for theinner end of the tool and suilcient room for a full sweep of the leveracross the valley toforce the bushing up and out.

The various features of novelty whereby my invention is characterizedwill hereinafter be pointed out with particularity in the claims; but,for a full understanding of my invention and of its objects andadvantages, reference maybe had to the following detailed descriptiontaken in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 shows my improved tool inside elevation in operative relationto a valve bushing mounted in a V-type cylinder block', a portion ofwhich is shown in section; Fig. 2 is a section on line 2-.2 of Fig. 3,on a much larger scale than Fig. 1, the tool being shown in the samecondition as in Fig. 1, and fragments of the valve device and cylinderblock being shown; Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the tool, the operatinglever being shown in section; and Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view of thejaw end of the lower arm of the device.

Referring to the drawing, I represents a -fragment of the cylinder blockof a V-type internal combustion engine containinga valley 2 opening outof the top thereof. The walls of the valley overhang the latter at thetop, as indicated at 3 and 4 and, through each Yof these cverhangingportions extends a row `of valves. Only a single valve is shown, as willbe understood that this may represent one row while the second row lieson the opposite side of the valley at an angle of ninety degrees or moreto the plane of the rst row. It will be seen that the part3 contains abore 5 extending entirely through the same from top to bottom. Fittedwithin this bore isavalve stemguide. or bushing 6 .dividedlongitudinally into two sections. The top of the bore is adapted to bealternately opened and closed by a valve 'I whose stem 8 extends downthrough the bushing or guide. Surrounding the part of the valve stembelow the bushing, as well as the reduced lower portion of the bushingthat extends down below the member 3, is a compression spring 9. Theusual valve-actuating tappet I0 is mounted in the cylinder block belowand in axial alignment with the valve stem. As will hereinafter appear,I employ the shoulder II on the cylinder block around the top of thetappet as one resting point for my tool, while the other resting pointI2 is at the top of the valley and on the inner edge of the overhang 4.All of these parts are of well known construction and have beenillustrated and described simply to explain the purpose and manner ofuse of the tool constituting the present invention.

Since the valve guides or bushing become rusted to the cylinder blocksso as to form almost an integral part of the latter, great force isrequired to press them out through the topof the block. Consequently, atool for this purpose must be very rugged. My improved tool is thereforeformed of two heavy, sturdy arms I4 and i5, respectively. The upper armhas a long central slot extending from a point near one end out throughthe opposite end, and the lower arm has one end reduced in width so asto fit into the open end of the slot. A hinge pin I6 extends through theinter-engaged ends of the two arms, thereby permitting the arms to swingrelatively to each other. At the free end of each arm is a jaw,indicated at Il and I8, respectively. These jaws overlie each other andmay be alike since their purpose is to embrace the lower end of thespring 9 while the jaw on the arm I4 is resting on the shoulder II andthe body of the arm is resting on the shoulder l2 near the hinge end ofthe tool. Overlying the upper jaw and xed thereto is a thin steel plateI9 provided in the front edge with a notch that is only large enough toembrace the valve stem. To do this, the plate must be inserted betweenadjacent coils of the spring, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

The parts are so proportioned that after the guide or bushing has beendriven down far enough to permit the withdrawal of the key (not shown),from the groove I3 in the bushing, the I tool may be slipped in placewith the plate I9 lying below and in engagement with the lower end ofthe bushing. If now a force is exerted tending to spread the free endsof the arms apart, only the upper arm can move because the lower armrests solidly on the cylinder block and, therefore, when the forcebecomes great enough, the bushing is pushed up out of its seat. Thepower for spreading the arms is provided by a long lever 2| whichextends down into the slot in the upper arm toward the free end of thelatter and is secured by a sturdy hinge pin 22 passing through the armand the lever. The extreme lower end of the lever is in the form of acam 24 which rests on top of the lower arm. This cam is so shaped thatthe lever may stand at about right angles to the upper arm when the twojaws are engaged with each other, as in Figs. 1 and 2; thus permittingthe tool to be inserted in the Valley of the cylinder block and leavingthe lever free to make a complete working stroke. It will be seen thatthe distance between the fulcrum of the cam and the outer end of thehandle is greater than the distance between the hinge pin 22 and theouter end of the handle, so that one arm of the lever comprises theentire length of the handle device and cam, while the length of theother arm is very short, equalling the distance between a hinge pin anda line drawn at right angles to a line extending from the fulcrum to theouter end of the handle. This provides for an enormous multiplication ofthe operating force applied to the free end of the handle. The lower armis preferably provided in the top thereof with a deep depression 25about as wide as the thickness of the cam and of suliicient length so asnot to obstruct. the movements of the cam. This produces an interlockbetween the two arms to prevent relative sidewise movements which mightotherwise take place upon the application of pressure to the tool.Furthermore, I prefer to place in the bottom of this depression awearing plate 26 upon which the cam rides, thereby protecting the bodyportion of the arm against the wear which would otherwise take place.

The two arms of the tool are preferably yieldingly connected together sothat the jaws will remain in contact until forcibly spread apart. Thiscan conveniently be accomplished by means 0f a small tension spring 2lextending down through the forward end of the slot in the upper arm andinto an underlying hole 28 in the lower arm. The upper end of the springmay be connected to a pin 29 fixed in the upper arm, while the lower endof the spring may be provided with a hook 30 engaged in alittle hole 3!sunk into the metal of the arm beside the large hole or opening 28.Also, for the sake of ease of manufacture, the upper arm of the tool ispreferably made in two parts symmetrically disposed on opposite sides ofa longitudinal vertical plane. In this way the slot is obtained bycutting away the inner sides of the two halves from the rear end to apoint near the jaw portion so that, when the two halves are securedtogether, the rearwardly-extending bars thereof are spaced far enoughapart to receive the rear end of the lower arm. With this arrangement,the hinge pin serves to secure together the rear ends of the two halvesof the upper arm, so that only a single screw, such as indicated at 32,is needed near the front end to complete the attachment of the twohalves to each other.

The manner of using the tool will now be clear. In Fig. l the bushing isshown as having been driven down far enough to have permitted thewithdrawal of the key from the groove I3 in the bushing. The tool isshown as having been placed in working position with respect to thevalve unit, including the bushing. All that need now be done is to pullthe lever in the clockwise direction and thus force the jaw I8, and withit the entire valve unit, up until the main part of the bushing islifted above its seat or bearing in the bore 5. When this has been done,the valve unit may be lifted out bodily.

While I have illustrated and described with particularity only thesingle preferred form of my invention, I do not desire to be limited tothe exact structural details thus illustrated and described; but intendto cover all forms and arrangements which come within the definitions ofmy invention constituting the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A tool for the purpose described composed of two sturdy arms hingedtogether at corresponding ends, the free ends of the arms being in theform of jaws large enough to embrace the spring surrounding a valve stemin an internal combustion engine, a steel plate thin enough to beinserted between adjacent coils of said spring overlying and xed to thetop of the upper jaw, said plate having in the forward edge a centralnotch large enough to receive the valve stern, the upper of said armscontaining a long longitudinal slot extending through the same from topto bottom, the lower arm having in the top a recess extending lengthwisethereof, a long lever having its lower end extending through the forwardend of said slot and into said recess so as to contact with the lowerarm at the bottom of the recess, a hinge pin connecting the lever to theupper arm, the lower end of the lever being in the shape of a cam thatspreads the jaw ends of the arms apart when the lever is pulledrearwardly.

2. A tool for the purpose specied comprising a pair of sturdy armshinged together at one end and having registering jaws at the other end,a long handle hinged at one end to one of the arms near said jaws, thehinged end of the handle being in the shape of a cam curving around saidhinge axis, the second jaw having a longitudinal groove about as wide asthe thickness of the cam in the upper edge thereof, said cam resting onsaid second arm at the bottom of the groove, and the point of contactbetween the cam and said second arm being farther away from the outerend of the handle than is the hinge axis of the cam.

HERBERT A. BERKMAN.

